Streaking Chippewa Valley United sets sights on postseason run
Chippewa Valley United did not start the season looking like a hockey team that was poised to make a title run in February.
They were 6-7 after their first 13 games. Sickness was running rampant through the locker room and injuries had piled up, including with starting forward Nate Hall.
But head coach Jim Andonoff saw something that others didn’t.
“I kept telling them early on in the season they’re a good team,” he said.
“I actually saw it before we started our streak, but we just couldn’t put the puck in the net. Then it just started happening. We started scoring more goals. We started giving up less, so playing good defensively.”
That streak he mentioned? After their 6-7 start, Chippewa Valley United won nine-straight games and, after an 8-0 victory over SFT United on Monday, Feb. 19, have won 12 out of their last 13 games.
“I feel like we just found our chemistry then we started playing good hockey,” said defenseman Luke Butina. “Everything just turned around from then.”
Leading the team in scoring is junior forward Kevin Dolney with 23 goals. Senior forward Jake Paperi leads the team in points with 21 goals and 25 assists in 24 games played. Fellow forward Cameron Staskowski has also helped on 26 assists with 19 goals.
Hall, who has played in just 10 games, has 10 goals and six assists.
“They’re starting to realize, as they’re playing as a unit, they’re starting to realize what each other one does and what to expect from the other one,” Andonoff said. “That’s the big thing — they’re starting to gel and play together as a team and as a unit.”
During the start of the season, CVU was held to two goals or fewer four times, including a shutout. In the last 13, they’ve scored at least three in every game with eight occasions of scoring five goals or more.
Butina saw the tides begin to shift in their win over Grosse Pointe South.
“When we played Grosse Pointe South, we went down 2-0 in the first period,” he said. “Second period, was (the) same thing. Then we went into the third, we fought back, scored two goals, went to overtime and we won it in overtime. It was a really big moment. I think it’s when we started our win streak. It was really good for the program.”
That win was their fifth in a row. Hall pointed to their second game against L’Anse Creuse Unified, a team that beat them 3-2 in early December. In their Feb. 3 rematch, CVU won 7-1. They flipped the script on Anchor Bay,